In ancient Greece, rhetoric was at the centre of public life, but it was not until Aristotle produced The Art of Rhetoric in the 4th century bc that the subject had a true masterpiece.

Brilliantly explained and carefully reasoned, The Art of Rhetoric remains as relevant today as it was in the assemblies of ancient Athens. As he considered the role of emotion, reason, and morality in speech, Aristotle created essential guidelines for argument and prose style that would influence writers for more than two millennia.